It is known that gastritis and gastric ulcer are stomach and intestines diseases caused by the damage of the gastric mucous membrane due to various internal and external aggressive factors, and are a high frequency of disease around the world. The stomach and intestines diseases occur by psychological stress, hyperacidity, increased gastrointestinal motility, and Helicobacter pylori infection and symptom thereof may be various types, such as, bleeding, inflammation, an ulcer, and destruction of mucosa, in addition to general pains. Especially, it is known that gastric ulcer has a high affinity with Helicobacter pylori infection, and in developing countries as well as advanced countries and Korea, 90% or more of adults are infected by Helicobacter pylori. In addition, it is known that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and indomethacin lead to stomach damage, such as, bleeding, inflammation, and an ulcer by directly stimulating the gastric mucous membrane through selectively inhibiting the production of cyclooxygenase-2, which makes local blood circulation smoothly.
In order to treat the gastric damage, such as gastric ulcer, a hydrogen ion pump inhibitor that blocks acid secretion from the cells of stomach wall, gastric antiacids, the receptor blocker of histamine that catalyzes acid secretion, prostaglandin (PG) that is a gastric mucous membrane-reinforcing agent and a derivative thereof, antibiotics that inhibit the growth and development of Helicobacter pylori, and the like are being used.
The various gastric damage-treating or preventing agents described above lead to side effects and develop a tolerance when taken for long term. Therefore, efforts to develop a preventing or treating agent having excellent gastric treating effect from natural substances including food materials are actively proceeding. In other words, the discovery and development of natural substances having a gastric damage-preventing effect, which has no side effects when taken and no problems about tolerance or stability even when taken for a long period of time, are urgently needed.
Meanwhile, it is known that endogenous substances for protecting a body from gastric damage are prostaglandin (PG), an epidermal growth factor, a fibroblast growth factor, nitric oxide (NO), and the like. Recently, it is known that hydrogen sulfide exhibits toxicity in the case of an excess of quantity in a body, and is a signaling molecule of endogenous gas such as NO and CO (Sen N and Snyder S H, Trends in Neurosciences, 33, p. 493 to 502, 2010). It is confirmed that hydrogen sulfide is concerned in various biological activities, such as, vasodilatation, intercellular signaling, and anti-inflammatory activity (Benavides G A, et al., PNAS, 104, p. 17977 to 17982, 2007; Chen Y W, et al., Journal of Surgical Research, 164, P. e305 to e313, 2010). Especially, it is confirmed from an animal experiment that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs decreases the production of hydrogen sulfide in a body, but the food materials or drugs inducing the production of hydrogen sulfide decreases the gastric damage induced by the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Medeiros J V R, et al., The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 330, p. 764 to 770, 2009). Especially, it is known that hydrogen sulfide inhibits adherence of white blood cells on the vascular endothelial along with nitric oxide and has a pain-blocking effect (Zanardo R C, et al., FASEB J, 20, 2118, 2006). Especially, it has been reported that garlic among food materials includes a larger amount of sulfur, and when taken the garlic, the production of hydrogen sulfide is increased in a body, an oxidative damage is decreased, and the effect on preventing cardiovascular disorders is exhibited (Benavides G A, et al., PNAS, 104, p. 17977 to 17982, 2007). Therefore, the food materials such as garlic that may help the production of hydrogen sulfide in a body may be an excellent health functional material.
Meanwhile, salt that is used as a seasoning agent making taste in our daily lives is mainly composed of sodium chloride (NaCl), which is physiologically a necessity for a person. In detail, sodium chloride controls the osmotic pressure of body fluid in a body, maintains acid-base balance in body fluid as a buffer substance, and forms alkaline digestive fluid in bile, pancreatic juice, or intestinal juice, and chlorine that is another constituent of sodium chloride forms gastric juice. As described above, the sodium chloride has the action that is closely involved in the biological activity and life conservation of animals, and thus, when the salt intake is low, in the case of the short time, the secretion of digestive fluid is lack, thereby occurring decrease of appetite and in the case of the long time, generalized weakness, tiredness, weariness, and internal malaise occur. When the loss of salt is sharply generated in a body, the clear loss of physical and psychological functions, such as dizziness, self-renunciation, and clouding of consciousness occurs.
However, it is known that when salt that is taken every day is oversupplied, blood pressure is increased and insulin signaling is influenced, thereby inducing insulin resistance. Especially, it is confirmed that sodium chloride that is a main component of salt is a direct cause substance leading hypertension and diabetes. For this reason, WHO/ISH recommends 5 g or less as adult daily intake of salt and Japanese Society of Hypertension recommends 7 g or less as adult daily intake of salt at 2000.
Salt that is intake may be largely classified into halite, white salt, refined salt, and solar salt, and it is known that the mineral contents in a salt are different depending on the different kinds of salts. In other words, halite and refined salt that are mainly intake around the world include 99% or more of sodium chloride content, but there are almost no mineral components, such as, K, Ca, and Mg. However, it is reported that mudflat solar salt that is produced in Korea includes 85% of sodium chloride content, but a large amount of mineral components, such as, K, Ca, and Mg (Kang Duck, Lee, et al., 2008, Symposium and regular general meeting of Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology, p. 282, Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology, Gwang Ju, 2008, 6, 18 to 20).
TABLE 1Mineral content (mg/kg)SaltKMgCaSrFeMnZnCuMudflat24948190145998.612.530.81.3solar saltRefined1,823364.812615.314.91.9—1.5saltReagent≦50≦5≦2≦5≦1≦5≦5≦5grade salt
Especially, the mineral components, such as, K, Ca, and Mg, inhibit the rise of blood pressure and are positively correlated with insulin signaling. It is reported that K increases the production of NO, thereby relaxing endothelial blood vessel, and Ca influences the contraction-relaxation of muscle and blood vessel, and relaxes the blood vessel of hypertensive patient, thereby decreasing blood pressure (Franzoni F, et al., 2005. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 59, p. 25 to 29, 2005; Wu X, et al., Cardiovascular Research, 40, 364 to 374, 1998). In addition, Mg increases the production of NO and also influences blood pressure by changing the structure of blood vessel (Sontia B, et al., Arichives of Biochemistry & Biophysics, 458, p. 33 to 39, 2007). Ogihara, et al. (Life Sciences, 73, p. 509 to 523, 2003; Hypertension, 40, p. 83 to 88, 2002) reported that the expression of glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) was inhibited in salt-sensitive rat taken only in NaCl, thereby inhibiting insulin signaling, but the function of insulin signaling factor was normally performed in the salt-sensitive rat supplied with high concentration of K.
Recently, it has been reported that as compared with the salt without minerals, the mudflat solar salt inhibits the rise of blood pressure and also inhibits insulin receptor substrate-1 serine phosphorylation enzyme that is a negative control factor for insulin signaling. In addition, the mudflat solar salt increases glucose uptake in fat or muscle tissues, thereby decreasing insulin resistance (Ekkapon L, et al., 2008 14th World Congress of Food Science & Technology, TS25 to 37, Shanghai, China, Oct. 19, 2008 to 23; Lee KD, et al., 2008 14thWorld Congress of Food Science & Technology, TS25 to 83, Shanghai, China, Oct. 19, 2008 to 23). Therefore, it suggested that health effect of salt is different according to the amount of intake and also kinds of salt. It is considered that mudflat solar salt includes a large amount of mineral contents, and thus, is good for health.
Heat-treated salt (bamboo salt and the like) is prepared by burning or melting mudflat solar salt with bamboo, and is uniquely produced only in Korea. From ancient times, it is widely used for treating inflammation, diabetes, and the like, and recently, by scientists, it has been confirmed that there are various biological activities, such as, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammation, anti-virus, and anti-cancer, of the heat-treated salt (Gao T C, et al., 9th International Symposium, pp. 1345 to 1347, Beijing, China, 2009; Shin H Y, et al., immunophamacol immunotoxicol, 25, p. 377 to 384, 2003; Yang Ji Sun, et al., The Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology, 7, 178 to 184, 1999). In addition, it has been reported that even when bamboo salt is injected to a rat for 4 weeks, there are no anti-acid effects or inhibition effects of gastric acid secretions, and thereby, the intake of bamboo salt does not have an anti-gastric ulcer effect (Kim Seung Hee, et al., The Korean Society of Food Hygiene and Safety, 13, 1998). However, Hur, et al. (The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea, 45, 258, 2001) reported that when garlic and bamboo salt are injected into the rat induced by alcohol-nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (salicylic acid), anti-gastric ulcer effect is exhibited.
The difference of anti-gastric ulcer effects of bamboo salt as described above may be generated due to the different kinds of bamboo salts that are used for the experiments. The bamboo salt being sold in the market may be gray bamboo salt, purple bamboo salt, and life bamboo salt, and there are various types of bamboo salts according to manufacturing companies. It suggested that bamboo salt exhibits anti-gastric ulcer effect, but it is confirmed that it is very difficult to find bamboo salt having excellent anti-gastric ulcer effect from the commercial available bamboo salts.
In addition, in order to prepare bamboo salt having excellent anti-gastric ulcer effect, it is determined that the method for preparing the bamboo salt is very important, but yet very few academic studies therefor have been done.
In order to increase availability of mineral rich mudflat solar salt that is mostly produced in Korea and to find natural materials having a stomach damage-preventing effect, which has no problem about stability even when is used for a long period of time, the development of heat-treated salt is being demanded, in which the heat-treated salt exhibits a preventing effect of stomach damage, such as, bleeding, inflammation, ulcer, and destruction of mucosa by treating the solar salt through various heat treatment processing methods.
The purple bamboo salt having a stomach damage-preventing effect to be prepared in the present invention was conventionally produced under the name of purple bamboo salt, and the conventional purple bamboo salt was prepared by passing the bamboo salt preparing process of eight-burning, and finally, burning it at a high temperature using a pine tree as a fuel in order to make the purple bamboo salt. This processes required many processes, long times, and a large amount of bamboo tree materials, and thus, the cost of fuel and personnel expenses are increased, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost, and also, the production amount of purple bamboo salt are irregular and it is difficult to perform the bulk production thereof. In addition, there are no studies exhibiting whether or not the conventional purple bamboo salt produced as described above has a stomach damage-preventing effect to be obtained in the present invention.